St. Pius X Church
3010 Chili Avenue
Rochester, NY 14624
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PERMIT NO. 1578
...restore!
ST. PIUS TENTH PARISH
October, 2014 | www.saintpiustenth.org | (585) 247-2566
Restore committee seeks ways
to strongly engage our parish
By Mike Mazzochetti
Once upon a time people
went to church to grow in faith
and learn morals. People knew to
attend to know, love, and serve
God in prayer and sacrament.
Well, times have changed as many
people have stopped going to
church or have not been exposed
to it during these times of strong
worldly allure. Even in Jesus’ day,
he spent time in temples but also
met people where there are in
the marketplace, work, or play.
A couple of years ago, a parish
council member did a study and
noticed that St. Pius Tenth Church
was losing a parishioner a week
over a 10-year period: 500 people
over that time! Several of us went
to study the problem and noted a
number of issues. In the process
we read two books:
– The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic by Matthew Kelly
(These Catholics pray / study /
are generous / and evangelize).
Surprise is that in over 200 national parishes studied, only 7%
are engaged forming 80% of the
volunteering and financial contributions. What is happening with
the other 93%?
– Rebuilt: Awakening the
Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and
Making Church Matter by Father
Michael White and Tom Corcoran.
An adhoc committee was
formed and commissioned
by parish council to provide a
catalytic role to enhance the
spiritual growth of our parish
community. We are a think tank
and idea group to prayerfully see
the direction our parish can take
with incremental steps to build
upon what is good and consider
something new.
We initially adopted “Rebuilt”
as our committee name. Then
as we moved to a new mission
statement of “Everyday we reach
to restore all things in Jesus
Christ,” we changed our name to
“Restore.”
A number of initiatives are
being considered as we look for
ways for our parishioners to grow
in discipleship and to attract new
people to the happenings of St.
Pius Tenth Church. Our very first
course of action was to combine
a greater sense of welcoming and
foster community. Now we have
the weekly Holy Grounds Cafe!
Stop by after Sunday Mass to
meet up with friends and make
new introductions while inviting
people to attend.
More is to come. We need to
pray and carefully make excellent
programs, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us. This then attracts us
to God’s goodness, restoring us as
his people.
SAVE
THE DATES!
Family Communion
Breakfast,
Sunday, October 26th
from 9:30 – 11:30a.m.
in the Parish Center.
$5 per family, reservations
required, limit 200 guests.
Best Saint Costume Contest,
All Saints Day,
Saturday, November 1st
after 5 p.m. Mass.
Evening Prayer Service for
the Deceased,
Wednesday Nov 5th @ 7 p.m.
Memorial service for those in
our parish who have died in
the past year.
Thanksgiving Day Mass,
Thursday, Nov 27th
9:30 a.m.
More info about these events
in the bulletin & on our
website
Confessions:
Saturday 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Mass Times:
Monday - Saturday 8:30 a.m.
Saturday 5:00 p.m. Vigil
Sunday 8:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.
A fourth “Stooge” brings laughter, fun,
inspiring message about Christ to SPX
And you thought there were
only Three Stooges. Well, Bob
Perron certainly looks a lot like
“Curly” of the popular television
show from a bygone era. But Bob
is no “yuk, yuk.” He’s a deep-thinking, acutely-engaging comedian
who mixes both humor and
happiness with an inspirational
present day message about Jesus
Christ. And he’s bringing his act
to an audience of all ages at St.
Pius Tenth and the community at
large.
“Stooge for Christ,” a witty one
person performance staring Bob
Perron will take place Saturday,
October 25th, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
at the church. Admission is free
and all invited to attend both the
performance and to a “meet and
Changes in
Sacramental Preparation
Bishop Salvatore Matano has
issued new Sacramental Guidelines for our Diocese. One of the
immediate changes affecting Sacramental Preparation is that First
Reconciliation is to be prepared
for and celebrated before First
Eucharist. Both First Reconciliation and First Eucharist are now
typically to be celebrated by individuals close to the age of seven
in second grade, as long as the
candidate for these Sacraments
has “foundational catechesis,”
meaning he/she has participated
in Faith Formation or has been a
student in Catholic School for at
least one year prior to the year
she/he prepares for a sacramental
celebration.
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greet” reception immediately
following.
Bob has been involved in
ministry to young people and
adults since 1984. He has served
as a parish youth minister, parish
director of religious education,
camp director and diocesan
youth director. He loves working
with young people and they love
him. Bob is currently the Director
of the Office of Youth & Young
Adult Ministry for the Diocese of
Wheeling-Charleston.
Bob has spoken at hundreds of
diocesan youth conferences and
parish missions in over 40 states
along with several countries. He
has recently been the MC at the
National Mass and Rally for Life in
Washington, DC, spoke at the Los
Life Long
Faith Formation
Ministries
It’s not just for children
anymore! Well, it never
was, but up until now we
have not offered a lot of
opportunities for other
age groups at St. Pius
Tenth .This Fall we have
added parent sessions on
Tuesday nights, beginning
with a three week series
concerning the movie
“Heaven is for Real.”The
sessions are led by Deacon Dennis Lohouse.
Angeles Congress youth day and
was a keynote presenter at NCYC
2014 in Indianapolis.
Bob Perron, “Stooge for Christ”
Young Adult
Ministry at
St. Pius X –
What? When?
Where?
On Sunday, October 26th,
Young Adults at St. Pius Tenth are
invited to meet with Johan Engström, Director of Faith Formation and Coordinator of Life Long
Faith Formation Ministries to talk
about the interests and questions
young adults have, or any needs
they would like to see fulfilled
regarding their participation in
the parish.The meeting will be
held in Meeting Room Luke, from
Noon – 1 pm.
Fishers of Men catching on at St. Pius Tenth Parish
By Dan Hilsdorf
In 2005, after
several Sunday
morning challenges from three
emerging adolescents (i.e.“If you
want us to go to
church, why can’t
we go where our friends go?”),
Dan and Sandy Hilsdorf reluctantly agreed to leave behind St.
Augustine Parish and worship at
St. Pius Tenth.The couple got involved immediately, volunteering
at the Country Fair and participating in the parish’s Youth Group
with their kids.
One night Dan received a
call from the chair of the Parish
Pastoral Council, asking if he
would give of his time to the
parish.The agreement to serve on
the Council was an outstanding
opportunity to get a “20,000 foot”
view of the many ministries of
the parish. On a personal level,
it was a tremendous opportunity
to form relationships with fellow
Catholics in the St. Pius Tenth
community and the neighboring
“southwest parishes.”
In 2011, Dan and Jim Briars
attended the 2011 Ignite Catholic
Men’s Conference, where what
they heard wasn’t typical for any
conference: they were told to go
back to their parish and do something!
Thus, after serving 4 years (of
a 3-year term!) on Parish Council,
Dan, as “outgoing chairperson”
promised to help initiate a “retirement project”- a spiritual/fellowship supplement to the parish
Men’s Group.
An online survey of the parish
was conducted to gauge interest
and identify those who might
be interested in attending and
leading a men’s fellowship group.
In the summer of 2012, Dan and
Jim Briars, with Bill Gustafson,
Len Sroka, Matt Barrett, Joe Achtyl
and Mike Mazzochetti began
to meet regularly in the Parish
Center, Saturday mornings at the
unheard of hour of 7 a.m.
They prayed for discernment for
a mission, a name, ideas.
Fishers of Men caught on.
Members of the core team created a logo, flyers, t-shirts. A mission
statement emerged: A discipleship of Catholic men dedicated
to growing our faith and our
relationship with Christ. It was
decided to focus on helping men
to become better spiritual leaders
in their family, workplace and
community.
The first gathering took place
in September, 2012 when 34 men
drove into the dark parish parking lot and were warmly greeted
in the Parish Center.They shared
breakfast before watching a portion of a Catholicism Series video
on “Peter, the Fisher of Men.”
Today the Fishers of Men meets
regularly on the 1st and 3rd
Saturday of each month at 7 a.m.
in the Parish Center. Men gather
for breakfast, and then open the
meeting portion with a prayer
and announcements. They watch
a 20-30 minute video, and break
into small groups to discuss in
strict confidence what they saw
in the video, their reaction, and
how it applies to them.
Every session concludes at
8:25 a.m.The men can choose
to attend the 8:30 a.m. Mass, or
resume their Saturday routine.
From the small group discussions,
new friendships are formed and
existing friendships are deepened.
If you are interested in helping
this program to grow, talk to any
of the men on the core team or
email us at [email protected]. All men are welcome, and we encourage them to
bring their sons.
SPX Oktoberfest
draws a crowd!
From enjoying Bratwurst with
beer, potato salad, Weiner Schnitzel and sauerkraut, to the singing of old country classics like
the “Fliegerlied so ein Schöner,”
(“Today is Such a Beautiful Day”),
St. Pius parishioners put on their
best “Lederhosen” costumes and
toasted their mugs to the most
popular Bavarian songs at this
year’s Oktoberfest in the Parish
Center. Many attended the October 17th festival which featured
the best in traditional songs and
cuisine from all regions of the Fatherland.There was no question
that on this day, being German
was “Leichter gesagt als getan”
(“Easier said than done)!”
(photo German food)
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The deacon is
speakin’
By Deacon Dennis Lohouse
Several months ago, in my
homily after Easter, I described
the healing that is going on at St.
Pius Tenth parish. I talked about
the efforts of a small group of loyal and long-time members who
got together and quietly raised
more than $310,000 in order to
pay off the debt that was left over
from the building of the Parish
Center – a facility that has greatly
benefitted our community.
I also described the efforts of
the Parish Pastoral Council, and
its “Restore” subcommittee, in
finding new ways to bring people back to the church, heal our
wounds, make our preaching
more effective, and most importantly help us focus on our core
mission by constructing a new
mission statement:
This beautiful message is easy
to remember and speaks to our
mission as Catholics: to reac h
out, reach up, and reach within
ourselves to bring Christ to all
around us. It speaks to the Great
Commission that Christ gave to
the disciples and to all of us: to
go forth and make disciples of all
people. We are so blessed to have
such creative and faithful people
among us.
Now that we have been
further blessed with the appointment of Father Paul Bonacci, and
in connection to the great bless-
ings that God has brought to our
parish, that same group of people who helped retire our debt,
has set yet another ambitious,
two part goal: to fund current
deferred maintenance projects
so our facilities remain in good
repair, and build a long term fund
for future maintenance. We will
be rolling this program out to the
parish in the weeks to come. We
hope to raise a total of $450,000
for both objectives.
St. Pius has a long and blessed
history in this community. We
hope that our efforts today will
result in keeping the parish alive
and vibrant, to ensure that our
mission stays focused on Christ,
and that the gifts God has given
us are kept in good repair and
used for the building of the Kingdom.
We hope that you will find
new ways to engage with us at St.
Pius Tenth as we all walk the road
of faith with Jesus our Lord.
AT S T. P I U S T E N T H C H U R C H
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More than 25 talented young people
have joined our “Works of God” Children’s Choir! Under the direction of
Lucyann Ormiston, the choir group
practices each Thursday afternoon and
will perform every month during the
school year at different weekend masses, as well as at the 4 p.m. Christmas
celebration on December 24th and the
Sunday 10:30 a.m. Easter celebration. If
you would like your child to participate,
email our coordinator Martha Grant,
at [email protected].
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The Holy Grounds café has opened,
delighting hundreds of parishioners with a delectable continental
breakfast following the Sunday 8:30
and 10:30 a.m. Sunday masses. The
September weather provided ample
opportunities for the overflow crowds
to enjoy food and fellowship on the
sidewalks outside the Parish
p
Kevin Howse, a sixth grader at St.
Pius Tenth School, devised the winning entry in the “Name the Parish
Café” contest. His selection, the Holy
Grounds Café, was chosen from
among dozens of names submitted.
He was awarded a $100 savings
bond for his creativity.
County Fair exceeds
all expectations!
The planning
and preparations,
the hundreds of
volunteer hours,
the tweaks,
additions and
improvements
made to the 2014
Country Fair all
paid off in the
big way this year.
Notwithstanding
a Friday night
thunderstorm that
deluged fairgoers,
revelers and 5K race participants,
proceeds for the August event
exceeded all projections! Nearly
$65,000 was raised.The Saturday
barbeque was a huge success for
everyone but the chickens.The
parish rummage sale nearly ran
out of fleas! And the raffle nearly sold out before the winners
could be announced! Thanks to
all for a wonderful effort!
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In his new capacity as our pastor,
Father Paul Bonacci found an interesting way to introduce himself – and
be welcomed by – dozens of fairgoers.
Even in the soaking rainstorm of Friday night, Father Paul served as one
of our official “chauffeurs,” transporting folks back and forth from their
various destinations.
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The atmosphere was electric under
the “Big Tent,” as hundreds of fairgoers
played games, munched on fantastic
foods, and ran into neighbors and
friends they hadn’t seen or talked to
since, well…since the last Pius Fair!
Some of the dozens of flea market volunteers who contributed
countless hours sorting all the
“slightly used” stuff, while bickering with price-savvy customers
and replenishing shelves with
newly-donated merchandise.
KUDOS
to our
Festival
Sponsors!
ALA Real Estate Solutions
Alvah Halloran & Son
Funeral Home
Boon & Sons
Brook-Lea Country Club
C&M Forwarding Co, Inc
CEM Properties, LLC
Chili Liquor Store
Claridge Decorating Centre
Eco Heating & Cooling
Flaherty Salmin CPA’s
Forest Creek Equity Corp
Good Guys Pizza
Isaac Heating & Air
Conditioning
J. William Jewelers
Judith M. Shea, DDS
Kuntz Family
Lamont Awards & Apparel
Leaf & Bean Coffee Company
Leo M. Bean & Sons
Funeral Home
Loria Electrical Services
Mahany Welding
Mosquito Squad
Naughton’s Johnson House
Nolan’s Rental, Inc
Richard Booth Service Center
Rochester Travel Group
St. Pius X Church FCU
State Farm Insurance The Kernan Agency
Stuart Smith Agency
Totally Tents
Vail Insurance Agency
Walmart Store #2859
Wegmans
Westside Pediatric Group, LLP
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